Dead Ford Battery. Every few weeks. Replaced with Die Hard

[CaliF150]

It is very frustrating that a brand new truck with only 6 month on it already got an issue with battery drain.

Just had the battery replaced with a Die Hard Brand. When I purchased the vehicle dealer actually had to charge the battery.
It keeps dying on me every few weeks. Today I had to take care of family stuff and needed the truck. So stopped of at the Firestone Service and picked up.a Die Hard battery
Lets see if any issues come up. If it drains again with new battery I will chase the electrical.

However I see it so often that FordMoCo batteries have issues.

Doubt Ford would reimburse me for the battery

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[marekjk]

When you say it was dead every few weeks, how dead do you mean?

I’ve had my truck strand me from a low 12v battery (it’s a Powerboost haha). Now I have to monitor the state of charge and top it off with a trickle charger every two weeks or so. The truck has just over 3k miles on it.

I’m considering just biting the bullet and buying a new battery just like you did.

 

[CaliF150]

When you say it was dead every few weeks, how dead do you mean?

I’ve had my truck strand me from a low 12v battery (it’s a Powerboost haha). Now I have to monitor the state of charge and top it off with a trickle charger every two weeks or so. The truck has just over 3k miles on it.

I’m considering just biting the bullet and buying a new battery just like you did.

Thats what I kept trying and I am at 1500 miles. But the truck drives maybe 2 miles every week.
So this battery stuff was getting to me. I should have waited and gone to dealer. But going to dealer for anything is frustrating. Specially my local Ford dealer.

 

[capetownkg]

I have a 22 powerboost with 13k on it. Took it in for a recall and mentioned it kept going into deep sleep mode when it shouldnt due to how much its driven. They tested my battery and it failed, replaced with no hassle or questions.

 

[lawduck1]

Thats what I kept trying and I am at 1500 miles. But the truck drives maybe 2 miles every week.
So this battery stuff was getting to me. I should have waited and gone to dealer. But going to dealer for anything is frustrating. Specially my local Ford dealer.

Only drive 2 miles a week? That’s your problem. It’s not long enough to top it off and is probably net down every trip. You need a good long drive every so often to keep it charged.

 

[scott011422]

It takes a 15-20 min drive to gain anything on the battery's charge level. Any shorter and your draining the battery with every drive. There is another person on the form that doesn't drive often and I believe he was saying something like .1 of a volt discharge every week. So only driving a mile or two a week, deep sleep every couple of weeks sounds about right. Especially on the stock battery.

 

[Gros Ventre]

2 Miles a week is a bit low. A battery recovers 95% of its discharge from starting within a few minutes... but that last 5% takes awhile since the charging rate tapers off. So, 2 miles a week can step the battery down... But then I have concluded that Ford also has a large batch of flawed batteries (I think from all of those stored trucks due to chip shortages). I started getting warnings over a Thanksgiving Family trips 18 months ago. Just replaced it with a NAPA drop in, an AGM. Not a peep since. Get a new battery...And, take at least a 30 minute drive each week...

 

[RickBullotta]

The (apparently) defective batches of OEM batteries often test OK. I had this problem twice and replaced it with a quality aftermarket battery (Duralast Platinum), and never had an issue again. For me, it was cheaper and easier to drop the $250 versus the lost time and convenience of multiple back-and-forths to the dealer.

 

[bigbulls]

Is it normal for the truck to go into deep sleep after 48 hours of not being started? I put a trickle charger on when I park and it still goes into deep sleep after 48 hours or do I have a bad battery?

 

[Gros Ventre]

The (apparently) defective batches of OEM batteries often test OK. I had this problem twice and replaced it with a quality aftermarket battery (Duralast Platinum), and never had an issue again. For me, it was cheaper and easier to drop the $250 versus the lost time and convenience of multiple back-and-forths to the dealer.

What I think is going on is that Ford, when they sent many, many trucks out to the parking lot awaiting chips, also sent their batteries out there (either in the trucks or on the shelf). Batteries don't like to just sit. Funny things happen like impurities plate out on the active material surfaces. This effectively reduces capacity. When you test it, unless you put a big load on it, it'll test fine. The issue is the loss of active surfac area, while the basic chemistry remains. That's why I believe the quickest solution is to just go get an aftermarket battery. By happenstance that is what I did... not a peep out of the truck's electrical system since.

 

[Graygoose2021]

the stock batteries are terrible, had issues, replaced mine at 12k with an Auto Zone battery....no more issues.

 

[RickBullotta]

Is it normal for the truck to go into deep sleep after 48 hours of not being started? I put a trickle charger on when I park and it still goes into deep sleep after 48 hours or do I have a bad battery?

Swap the battery and find out....

Seriously though, there are a LOT of us who did just that and the problem went away.

 

[JEB]

Is it normal for the truck to go into deep sleep after 48 hours of not being started? I put a trickle charger on when I park and it still goes into deep sleep after 48 hours or do I have a bad battery?

Not necessarily, but it’s not a good sign. Can you get your hands on a battery charger with a bit more muscle? Maybe one that can desulfate a “bad” battery? When I thought I had a bad battery, I hooked mine up to a high quality charger with up to 20 amps of current and let it go through a full charging cycle, including a finishing charge and a couple of exercise phases. Took awhile but my Motorcraft battery is performing adequately now. I continue to put it on a charger a couple of times a month.

 

[Gros Ventre]

"somehow youre gonna have to find out whats draining the battery"

Remember that these batteries have a self discharge rate of about 1% per week. In my observation that is made the worse by letting a battery just sit, as I infer Ford did while waiting on chips. In the worst case some impurities can grow to form a bridge of conductive material between plates. This then becomes the electrical drain path.

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